Something Ricked This Way Comes
|code = 108}} "Something Ricked This Way Comes" is the ninth episode of the first season of Rick and Morty. It is the ninth episode of the series overall. It premiered on March 24, 2014. It was written by Mike McMahan and directed by John Rice. Synopsis Rick is skeptical of Summer's new job at a shop run by the devil. Jerry and Morty argue about Pluto's status as a planet and end up traveling there. Plot The Smith family are eating breakfast. Rick creates a small robot purely to pass the butter on the table when Morty comes into the kitchen to ask Rick to help him on his science project. Jerry jumps at the opportunity to work a project with Morty due to his low self-confidence about his intelligence. Morty decides to agree. Summer asks for a ride to her job, which is defaulted to Rick since Jerry is 'busy'. Rick gives Summer a ride to her job, which is helping out an eccentric old man run a 'vintage thrift store' called Needful Things. The shop is run by Mr. Needful, and has just opened recently. Before Rick and Summer arrive, Mr. Goldenfold arrives on accident (thinking the shop was a Jamba Juice). Mr. Needful knows his name without introduction and gives him an aftershave to help capture female attention. The aftershave is free, but Mr. Needful states "Nobody ever pays here...not with money". Summer and Rick arrive into the shop, and Rick is immediately suspicious of Mr. Needful, asking whether he is the devil. This accusation startles Mr. Needful who quickly tries to give Rick a microscope, which Rick reluctantly takes as Summer pushes him out the door. Meanwhile, Jerry and Morty begin to work on a solar system model for his science project. Jerry states that Pluto is a planet and Morty attempts to correct him. However, Jerry refuses to say that Pluto is not a planet. Morty visits Rick in his garage, where Rick scans the microscope and finds that using it would have significantly lowered his IQ. Jerry barges in assuming Morty is asking Rick about whether Pluto is a planet or not. Jerry vehemently argues that if it was once a planet, it could be a planet again. Mr. Goldenfold returns to Needful Things, saying that the aftershave worked but made him impotent. After Rick arrives and administers a cure into Goldenfold, he reveals that he has invented a device to identify the negative effects of the cursed items. Rick goes around the store, scanning all the items and revealing their curses which scares away the customer base. Mr. Needful and Rick briefly fight before Summer pushes Rick out the door. Jerry attempts to call NASA to argue about Pluto's planetary status. However, the two are quickly abducted by an alien ship and taken to Pluto, where they meet King Flippynips, the ruler of Pluto. The king is overjoyed that Jerry believes Pluto is a planet, and Jerry becomes a spokesperson to the population, assuring them that they are still a planet. The large cheering crowd quickly inflates Jerry's ego. Needful Things begins to sell a variety of items, but Summer and Mr. Needful discover it's because Rick has opened another shop across the street called Curse Purge Plus!. The shop removes the curses for a fee, and is an instant hit. This causes a strain on Mr. Needful's confidence and he attempts to kill himself, but is saved by Summer. Summer arrives into Rick's shop to concede defeat, which results in Rick getting bored and burning the shop to the ground. Jerry becomes famous to the Pluto population, appearing in various events to advocate that Pluto is a planet. Morty meets Scroopy Noopers, a Plutonian scientist who reveals that major corporations are mining plutonium from Pluto's core, thus making the planet shrink and slowly die. Jerry's opinions fall into line with these corporations, who are desperate to keep the public uninformed about the problems. Morty's attempts to persuade his father to tell the populace the truth falls on deaf ears. It's only when King Flippynips captures Scroopy Noopers and reveals he's his son does Jerry work the courage to tell the population of Pluto their problems. Mr. Needful opens a new business in the technology realm, opening n33dful.com to ravenous reviews. As he congratulates the workforce, he orders security on them and quickly fires Summer who feels betrayed. She reaches out to Rick who offers an idea. The two lift weights, take steroids and become incredibly muscular and ambush Mr. Needful at a tech talk before celebrating together. In the after credits sequence, the muscular Rick and Summer beat up various mean-spirited people. Characters *Morty *Rick *Summer *Jerry *Beth *Mr. Needful *Mr. Goldenfold *King Flippynips *Scroopy Noopers *Bully Deaths * None Locations *Smith Residence *Pluto *Needful Things *Curse Purge Plus! Trivia * Beth only has one speaking line throughout the entire episode. * This is the second episode where Rick and Morty have their adventures separately from each other. * While Rick is eating his pancakes in the beginning of the episode, you can see a picture of Morty's dog Snuffles on the wall behind him. Snuffles was featured in the episode "Lawnmower Dog", the second episode of the series, and hasn't been seen in any episodes since. * This is also the second episode where Rick and Summer have an adventure together. * The Warner Bros. movie Justice League features clips from this episode on the TV screen inside of Barry Allen's lair during the scene where Bruce Wayne recruits him. Cultural References * After the credits roll, there is a scene where Rick and Summer beat up several mean spirited people. The second to last one beat up is a satire of the Westboro Baptist Church Protesters. *The name of the shop, "Needful Things," is a reference to a store in the Stephen King novel of the same name. In the novel, a demon proprietor similarly sells seemingly perfect items in exchange for the souls of customers. *One of the items seen in the back room of "Needful Things" resembles a PokéBall from the popular game franchise Pokémon. *In the room where the devil attempts to kill himself, there is a picture on the wall with the image of Baphomet. *The title of the episode is a play on the name of a Ray Bradbury novel called Something Wicked This Way Comes. *Scroopy Noopers is sent to a military facility in "Plutonomo Bay" which is a reference to the Cuban military prison called Guantanamo Bay. *In Russian Version Scroopy Noopers is named "Ovalny" which is pun on Alexey Navalny, a Russian oppositioner. *During the conversation in which Scroopy Noopers reveals to Morty the negative effects of drilling the planet's core, he references the upper class using "golden showers" which is a sexual act of peeing on a sexual partner. This is later referenced by Tricia in the episode Rest and Ricklaxation . *The Plutonians represent fundamentalism. Similar to fundamentalists, they are shown to refuse to accept that their way of life is incorrect and destructive of themselves and those around them. This is evident in the Christian crosses in each of their eyes as well as their spark of rage when Jerry challenges their beliefs at a public event towards the end of the episode. *The Plutonians also represent corporate greed. Throughout the episode, the upper class are shown presenting only the side of the argument that supports their personal gain (such as getting Jerry to endorse their cause at multiple public events and on television). While Plutonians seem to be aware of their actions being harmful (including King Flippynips who accidentally reveals to Jerry that he's fully aware of the negative effects of the corporations), Scroopy Noopers is the only Plutonian in the episode that is shown to be against the effects of the corporations, which provides a commentary on the way corrupt corporate giants continue to operate. *The song featured in Rick and Summer's workout as well as post credits is "X Gon' Give It to Ya" by DMX. * During the post-credits montage, the second victim of Rick and Summer's rampage bears a strong resemblance to a grown-up Randal Weems from Recess. * Rick references The Twilight Zone, Friday the 13th: The Series, and science-fiction writer Ray Bradbury when insulting the Devil's products. The products themselves actually reference the Twilight Zone episodes "A Game Of Pool", "Living Doll" and "Printer's Devil". *When the devil was seen hanging himself, Summer took a monkey's hand and made three wishes with it. Every time she made a wish, a finger would curl up and it would come true. This was a reference to the story The Monkey's Paw. *After the devil fires Summer, he plays a quick tune on a violin. This is a reference to the song, "The Devil Went Down to Georgia". *On top of one of the shelves in Needful Things, there is a doll which resembles Kermit the Frog. *There is a gauntlet on the floor of needful things which is similar to Billy's gauntlet from Adventure Time. *When Mr. Goldenfold returns to Needful Things and learns of the deceit, a short segment of Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven is played. *In the scene where the devil is presenting his new app in front of a large audience, he is wearing a black turtleneck. This is a reference to Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple. *Rick mentions a pair of shoes that would make you run until you die. This might be a reference to the Back to the Future the NES game, where you can't stop moving. Rick and Morty themselves are based on Doc and Marty from Back to the Future. *There is a skull in the shop that shares a similar appearance to the skull that the Pokémon Marowak wears. *The website “n33dful.com” may be a reference to the book “Need” in which a website mysteriously appears granting users any request they want, but they need perform a certain task first and these begin to have deadly unintended consequences. Errors * Summer asks Rick for a ride to her job despite being given a spaceship in Raising Gazorpazorp. It's possible she doesn't have it anymore. * Before Rick and Summer beat up the man holding a sign that said "God Hates Fags," there is quick glimpse that switches the word "Fags" into "You." Other * n33dful.com was registered by the Turner Broadcasting System, Inc on May 10th, 2013, indicating the production or writing of this episode was completed at least 10 months in advance of its air date. Transcript View a full transcript of the episode here. Site navigation it:Episodio 9 Category:Episodes Category:Season 1 episodes Category:Rick Episodes Category:Summer Episodes Category:Jerry Episodes